Editorial
More prepared
A ZERO-casualty target was a bold and highly optimistic statement by the President as the country braced for the landfall of Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan), categorized as one of the strongest storms to hit the planet. Can’t fault our government leaders for positivity, but hope and courage in calamity situations should be more than just a mental condition. It is about planning and action. And in this respect, local government units (LGUs) are on the ground and thus at the forefront of disaster preparedness and response.
Advancements in weather prediction technology and the extensive options for communication nowadays equip us with sufficient information to get ready for the worst that nature can slap on us. And to a certain extent, the disaster-preparedness system in the country, especially in areas that are usually in the path of typhoons such as Pangasinan, is pretty much set up as far as evacuation procedures are concerned. Rescue operations could also be said to be structured though manpower and equipment could always do with some augmentation. Recovery and rehabilitation efforts in so far as distributing relief goods have also been a standard measure even if nutrition is understandably more often than not compromised. But there is much more than can be done to step up the capabilities and infrastructure of LGUs in terms of preparedness, search and rescue, evacuation and rehabilitation. The key is thinking broader and long-term.
In terms of preparations, it should not be foremost, much less enough, to be simply organized to evacuate people. Steps must be taken to avoid the need for evacuation in the first place by clearing rivers of informal settlers who are usually in the most danger of flooding. Development planning must take into consideration geographically high-risk areas and residential nor commercial zones must not be allowed to rise in these spots. When evacuation proves inevitable, it would be a worthy investment – especially given how many typhoons cross the country every year – to set up infrastructure or enhance existing ones to serve as secure and decent evacuation centers. Build more dikes and dams that will control the path of water to ensure that communities are protected. Each LGU need not take these initiatives on its own; neighboring towns and cities can take joint efforts. And the provincial government can stand as the overall manager. To paraphrase the President’s words of encouragement in his pre-Yolanda statement: No typhoon can bring Pangasinenses to their knees if we’ll be united.
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Unpolished Napoles
WHAT was expected happened. Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind in the P10-billion scam involving government funds that supposedly fattened pockets of several senators and congressmen, did not “sing.” Meaning, Napoles, appearing at the Senate Blue Ribbon committee probing the biggest heist of public money as affirmed by the Commission on Audit, denied involvement in, nay orchestrating, the crime that saw Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla allegedly pocketing hundreds of millions of pesos each in kickbacks. All Napoles did was to say “no” to successive questions on whether she had knowledge of the scam or not, spiking her replies with a massive dose of, “I invoke my right against self-incrimination.”
In short, Napoles broke the hearts of many, including P-Noy. Did P-Noy not give his imprimatur for a VIP treatment accorded an accused such as Napoles in the hopes of extracting from her valuable, if not damaging, information on the billion-peso scandal?
By refusing to “sing” on Nov. 7, Napoles must lose all niceties of jail stay which she has been enjoying since August. She should be thrown now in a cell in the company of dregs accused and lumped together as common criminals.
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